A BILL to amend article four, chapter seven of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
by adding thereto a new section, designated section six,
relating to the creation of the West Virginia prosecuting
attorneys institute and its executive council and its
executive director; the appointment of special prosecutors
to serve in the various counties where the elected
prosecuting attorney in that county is disqualified from
the prosecution of a criminal case in that county; assessing
the cost of the operation of the West Virginia prosecuting
attorneys institute upon the various counties; providing for the termination of the West Virginia prosecuting attorneys
institute; and annual reporting to the Legislature.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article four, chapter seven of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section six,
to read as follows:ARTICLE 4. PROSECUTING ATTORNEY, REWARDS AND LEGAL ADVICE.
§7-4-6. West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute.
(a) There is hereby created the West Virginia Prosecuting
Attorneys Institute, a public body whose membership shall consist
of the fifty-five elected county prosecuting attorneys in the
state. The institute shall meet at least once each calendar
year, and the presence of twenty-eight of the fifty-five
prosecutors at any such meeting shall constitute a quorum for the
conduct of the institute's business.
(b) There is hereby created the executive council of the
West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute which shall consist
of five prosecuting attorneys elected by the membership of the
West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute at its annual
meeting and two persons appointed annually by the county
commissioner's association of West Virginia. The executive
council shall elect one member of the council to serve as chairman of the institute for a term of one year without
compensation. The executive council shall serve as the regular
executive body of the institute.
(c) There is hereby created the position of executive
director of the West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute to
be employed by the executive council of the institute. The
executive director of the West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys
Institute shall serve at the will and pleasure of the executive
council of the institute at an annual salary equal to that
provided to prosecutors in Class I counties as set forth in
section four, article seven, chapter seven of this code. The
executive director shall be licensed to practice law in the state
of West Virginia and shall devote full-time to his or her
official duties and may not engage in the private practice of
law.
(d) The duties and responsibilities of the institute, as
implemented by and through its executive council and its
executive director, shall include the following:
(1) To provide for special prosecuting attorneys to pursue
a criminal matter in any county upon the request of a circuit
court judge of that county and upon the approval of the executive
council;
(2) To establish and to implement general and specialized
training programs for prosecuting attorneys and their
professional staffs;
(3) To provide materials for prosecuting attorneys and their
professional staffs, including legal research, technical
assistance, technical and professional publications;
(4) To compile and disseminate information on behalf of
prosecuting attorneys and their professional staffs on current
developments and changes in the law and the administration of
criminal justice;
(5) To establish and to implement uniform reporting
procedures for prosecuting attorneys and their professional
staffs in order to maintain and to provide accurate and timely
data and information relative to criminal prosecutorial matters;
(6) To accept and expend funds, grants, and gifts and accept
services from any public or private source;
(7) To enter into agreements and contracts with public or
private agencies or educational institutions;
(8) To identify experts and other resources for use by
prosecutors in criminal matters; and
(9) To make such recommendations to the Legislature or the
supreme court of appeals of the state of West Virginia on measures required, or procedural rules to be promulgated, to make
uniform the processing of juvenile cases in the fifty-five
counties of the state.
(e) Each prosecuting attorney shall be subject to
appointment by the institute to serve as a special prosecuting
attorney in any county where the prosecutor for that county or
his or her office has been disqualified from participating in a
particular criminal case. The circuit judge of any county of
this state, who disqualifies the prosecutor or his or her office
from participating in a particular criminal case in that county,
shall seek the appointment by the institute of a special
prosecuting attorney to substitute for the disqualified
prosecutor. The executive director of the institute shall, upon
written request to the institute by any circuit judge, and upon
approval of the executive council, appoint a prosecuting attorney
to serve as a special prosecuting attorney. The special
prosecuting attorney so appointed shall serve without any further
compensation other than that paid to him or her by his or her
county, except that he or she shall be entitled to be reimbursed
for his or her legitimate expenses associated with travel,
mileage, room and board from the county to which he or she is
appointed as a prosecutor, and provided further the county commission in which county he or she is special prosecutor shall
be responsible for all expenses associated with the prosecution
of the criminal action.
(f) The executive director of the institute shall maintain
an appointment list that shall include the names of all
fifty-five prosecuting attorneys and that shall also include the
names of any assistant prosecuting attorney who wishes to serve
as a special prosecuting attorney upon the same terms and
conditions as set forth in this section. The executive director
of the institute, with the approval of the executive council,
shall appoint special prosecuting attorneys from the appointment
list for any particular matter giving due consideration to the
proximity of the proposed special prosecuting attorney's home
county to the county requesting a special prosecutor and giving
due consideration to the expertise of the special prosecuting
attorney.
(g) Commencing on the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-five, each county commission shall pay, on a
monthly basis, a special prosecution premium to the treasurer of
the state for the funding of the West Virginia Prosecuting
Attorneys Institute. Such monthly premiums shall be paid
according to the following schedule:

Upon receipt of any such premium, the treasurer shall deposit the
premium into a special revenue fund to be known as the West
Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute Fund. All costs of
operating the West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute shall
be paid from the West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute
Fund upon proper authorization by the executive council or by the executive director of the institute and subject to annual
appropriation by the Legislature of the amounts contained within
the fund.
(h) The West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute shall
continue to exist until the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-seven, unless continued by an act of the
Legislature. The institute shall annually by the first day of
the regular legislative session provide the joint committee of
government and finance with a report setting forth the activities
of the institute, its activities and suggestions for legislative
action.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create a prosecuting
attorneys institute funded by county contributions. The
institute would provide training for prosecutors and would
provide special prosecutors to counties when the elected
prosecutor is disqualified from prosecuting a case.